Brooklyn-based REX architecture firm has been tapped to reconceive the Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center (PACWTC). The 80,000 square-foot space, originally designed by Frank Gehry, is slated to open in 2019, where it will be a site for theatre, dance, music, opera and film – including the Tribeca Film Festival.

The company, which was selected from three world-renowned finalists, is led by Joshua Prince-Ramus with Davis Brody Bond attached as executive architect. REX's featured projects include the AT&T Performing Arts Center Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre in Dallas, TX, as well as the Vakko Fashion Center in Instanbul, Turkey. See more here.

"We are honored to design such a meaningful project on a site imbued with deep significance for the people of New York,” said Prince-Ramus in a press statement.

The selection of REX follows last week’s re-affirmation of support for the PACWTC by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC), which released the first $10 million of its $99 million financial commitment to the project. The balance, according to the press release, will be funded through private sources.

"The selection of REX and the LMDC’s renewed commitment are critical milestones in our collective effort to create a vibrant new cultural and community anchor for all of Lower Manhattan,” said PACWTC Chairman John Zuccotti in a statement. "We are now two important steps closer to completing the World Trade Center and fully realizing our vision of Lower Manhattan as the world’s most dynamic, 24/7 urban community."

According to a New York Times report, the budget for the space has been reduced to $200 million, about half the original estimated cost. "It’s a chance to purge things that didn’t work and you now know how to fix them," Prince-Ramus told the Times, "and to have the opportunity to rethink." He added that his vision for the project was to design something that was "simple, elegant and timeless."